By Albatross
December 5 2003

Yes, it's FA Cup second round time and Pools are preparing to make their debut on live terrestrial television. Burton Albion are not the easiest opponents, and our record both on live tv and in terms of recent away form suggests an upset might be on the cards - but will Pools show their pedigree? OK, let's get some of the cliches out of the way first. "Butchers, Bakers and Candlestick Makers abound in the part-timer's team, and this is their cup final. The plucky part timers have done brilliantly to reach this round, it's cup football and anything can happen, Ronnie Radford, Sutton beating Coventry, giant-killing is what the competition's all about." With that nonsense all said, down to the serious business: how much of a threat are Burton Albion?

Currently they sit in 9th place in the Conference, with 31 points from 21 games - despite a deduction of 1 point for fielding an ineligable player. 35 goals have been scored and 31 conceded, and recent form has been good enough for Nigel Clough to be jointly awarded the Manager of the Month award for November. They have won six of their last eight games - including away at Torquay in the previous round - and have lost just one of their last ten, at Woking last weekend.

While officially still part time, there's no shortage of experience of the professional ranks in the Burton squad. Former England International Andy Sinton has missed the last few games, but the squad for Tuesday's win over Northwich included Colin Hoyle (Arsenal trainee with experience at 4 league clubs), Adam Willis (on loan from Kidderminster and given permission to play in the FA Cup), Sam McMahon (former Leicester player), Lee Colkin (over 100 league appearances with Northampton and Orient), Andrew Corbett (former Kidderminster player), Craig Dudley (just over 100 appearances with a number of league clubs), and Clough himself; while others such as Darren Wassall, Gary Crosby and Jonathan Howard (who played in an FA Cup semi for Chesterfield) have all been involved in recent weeks. Some of these may be in the twilight of their careers, but the chance of a last hurrah against a big club in the third round is plenty of motivation to pull a performance out of the bag.

Clough especially will need to be watched closely. He may not have much left in the way of pace, but he was always more of a player to use his head anyway, and if he's given time and space he can still play killer passes. Another creative player to watch out for is another former Kiddy player Andy Ducros, who has been suffering from illness recently; another "name" that is hoping to be fit after a spell on the sidelines is Clough's former team-mate, central defender Steve Chettle. Two people definately out of the picture though are Hoyle (cup tied) and Willis (suspended).

Leading scorers for the Brewers so far this season are Robert Talbot (who scored the winner at Torquay) and Aaron Webster, both with six; Dale Anderson has netted five, while Howard has scored three times.

Burton under Clough are unsurprisingly a side that like to get the ball down and play a bit, and that at least should mean that it's an attractive game to watch. The BBC obviously are also looking at the game as a potential shock, and Pools will need to be on their game to overcome the Conference side.

One of the things that will be giving Albion some confidence though is Pools' poor away form. Out of our last six games away from the Vic, we've won just once (against Chesterfield) and drawn one more. Add to this the fact that Burton haven't lost at home for two months, and it's a tough task ahead of Pools.

It's one that we'll have to accomplish without Marco Gabbiadini as well, but with Joel Porter and Danny Byrne, both of whom will be hoping to impress in front of the cameras. In fact, Gabbiadini is the only player out injured, leaving Neale Cooper with a multitude of options to pick from.

I suspect there won't be much in the way of changes from last Saturday, although Jack Wilkinson may be hoping his late goal is enough to force his way into the starting eleven.

So what's my prediction for the game? We've never won on live TV, and it often seems to be the kiss of death as far as a good game is concerned - but I reckon that both sides will play some decent stuff, and that Pools will edge the victory 2-1 - goals from Porter and Strachan firing us into the third round.